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Novel Writing Courses and "Novel Writing on Edge" Work and Study Forums
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Novel Writing on Edge - Necessary Nuance, Strong Bewares, and Actual Results
Platitudes, entitled amateurism, popular delusions, and erroneous information are all conspicuously absent from this collection of detailed novel writing guides and maxims. The goal is to provide you, the aspiring novel author, with the skills and knowledge it takes to realistically compete in the commercial book market of the 21st century.
Introduction to "Novel Writing on Edge"
Labors, Sins, and Six Acts - The NWOE Novel Writing Guide
The AAC Novel Development and Pitch Sitemap
Okay, I'm here, so where do I go now?
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Bad Novel Writing Advice - "Novel Writing On Edge"
The best "bad novel writing advice" articles culled from Novel Writing on Edge. The point isn't to axe grind, it's to warn writers of all the terrible advice floating around the novel writing universe. From conferences to writer groups, the acid rain never stops falling. By posting these articles, we dearly hope we can save a few misdirected souls. Michael Neff, director of Algonkian Writer Conferences is the primary author, with an assist from Chris Stewart. Beware brutal reviewers!
Top Worst "Worst Writer Advice"
Are Writer Groups a Really Bad Idea?
Whining About Margaret Atwood
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Art and Life in Novel Writing
Writer takeaways on craft and development learned from the best books on technique utilized in the commercial novel writing program (the forum above) including "The Art of Fiction" by John Gardner, "Writing the Breakout Novel" by Donald Maass, "Write Away" by Elizabeth George, and "The Writing Life" by Annie Dillard. NOTE: the links below are selections from our AAC highlights forum, Kara's Cabinet of Themes and Curiosities.
Writing Goals and the Disquiet of Self Doubt
What Happens When You Don't Understand Genre?
Are You Ready to Get Published Part I
Interview With Blake "Save the Cat" Snyder
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Novel Writing Program - Modules And Consults
- NOVEL WRITING PROGRAM INTRO - Where to Begin?
- Commercial Novel Writing Part I - Modules 1 to 8
- Commercial Novel Writing Part II - Modules 1 to 8
- Emerging Author Interview Series
- Novel Audit Checklist
Newly updated narrative, developmental, and editorial courses that compose the Algonkian Novel Writing Program. Crucial elements analyzed and applied include high-concept premise, counter-trait characters, Six Act Two-Goal Novel, hooks and core wounds, scene selection, set cinema, and more. All genres. Registration here. Program concludes with faculty video-consults to address final edits and query letter.
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New York Pitch, Algonkian, and Shooting Galleries
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New York Pitch and Algonkian Events
A forum for NY Pitch and Algonkian Event attendees posting assignments related to their novel or nonfiction. Assignments include conflict levels, antagonist and protagonist sketches, plot lines, setting, and story premise. Publishers and agents use this forum to obtain information before and after the conference event, therefore, writers should focus on responses and edit as necessary. Included are NY conference reviews, narrative critique sub-forums, and a Development Sitemap.
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New Worlds, New Voices - SFF Shooting Gallery
The NWNV "Shooting Gallery" provides writers with the chance to test market their best SFF novels and hopefully score a contract. Agents and TV/Film reps will check in and review work during 2021. AAC will edit beforehand as needed. This particular SG for Algonkian alums only.
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The Real World Genres - MS Shooting Gallery
"Real World Genres Shooting Gallery" provides writers with opportunities to test market their best novels and hopefully score a contract. Agents and TV/Film reps will check in and review work during 2021. AAC will edit beforehand as needed. This particular SG for Algonkian alums only.
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Algonkian Writer Conferences - Events, FAQ, Contracts, and More.
Algonkian events nurture intimate, carefully managed environments conducive to practicing the skills and learning the knowledge necessary to approach the development and writing of a competitive commercial or literary novel. We believe you were not born to be a good or great author, but that you stand on the shoulders of great authors gone before and only by hard work will you succeed. Below are links to subject topics concerning Algonkian. Feel free to contact us with any questions or observations.
Algonkian Home Page
About Algonkian Writer Conferences
Upcoming Events and Programs
Contracts, Careers, and Comments
Frequently Asked Questions
Novel Development and Writing Forums at AAC
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AAC Desert Buffet and Bad Novel Writing Advice
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Kara's Cabinet of Themes and Curiosities
The Best of AAC. A collection of ravels and unravels, combed feed, and worthwhile nuggets plucked from many sources here at AAC. Kara carefully selects only the best and presents them in an array certain to illuminate and entertain.
Are You Ready to Get Published? Part I
Are You Ready to Get Published? Part II
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Novel Writing Advice Videos - Who Has it Right?
A forum for posting and commenting on the many (and often ridiculous) novel writing advice videos found on Youtube. Feel free to let it rip, but be respectful. Nothing derogatory concerning the speakers. The mission here is to expose and question bad novel writing advice that does not bear up under scrutiny. Members of the Algonkian Critics Film Board (ACFB) include Kara Bosshardt, Gardner Browning, Joseph Hall, Elise Kipness, Michael Neff, and Audrey Woods.
Stephen King's War on Plot
Writing a Hot Sex Scene
The "Secret" to Writing Award Winning Novels?
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Audrey's Corner - Unique Reviews for Up and Coming Authors
Book reviews taken to the next level for the benefit of aspiring authors. This includes a unique novel-development analysis of contemporary novels by Algonkian Editor Audrey Woods. If you're in the early or middle stages of novel writing, you'll get a lot from this. We cannot thank her enough and look forward to her future thoughts and manifestations.
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Algonkian Brand Coffee - Shameless Promotion
Marketing our Algonkian Writer Conferences coffee brand. Goes perfect with Author Connect, and in so many ways. Crafted for writers by writers. A smooth, full-bodied blend of Sumatran velvet and Nicaraguan dark. Guaranteed to get your creative juices flowing. Seriously. It's damn good coffee, and if you don't like it we'll refund via Paypal. No joke.
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House of Blogs
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Crime Reads - Suspense, Thrillers, Crime, Gun!
CrimeReads is a culture website for people who believe suspense is the essence of storytelling, questions are as important as answers, and nothing beats the thrill of a good book. It's a single, trusted source where readers can find the best from the world of crime, mystery, and thrillers. No joke,
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Writer Unboxed - The "Connect Kitty" Approves
AAC can't help but deliver the best bloggish content that will inspire writers to new leaps of imagination. This one is mostly new releases, bestsellers, literary fiction historical fiction, mysteries, popular non-fiction, memoirs and biographies.
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The Fantasy Hive - A U.K. Wonderland
A hub for all things fantasy (plus some SF). Book reviews, games, author interviews, features, serial fiction- you name it. The Fantasy Hive is a collaborative site formed of unique personalities who just want to celebrate fantasy. Btw, the SFF novel to the left by one of our members, Warwick Gleeson, was a "Top 150 Best Books" Kirkus pick in 2019.
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Women on Writing - WOW and WOW!
Women On Writing is an online magazine and community for women writers. Among major topics are novel writing, indie publishing, author platform, blogging, screenwriting, and more. Lots of contests and general jocularity sans frittering on the part of Earth's most powerful humans.
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Smart Bitches, Trashy Books
Bringing you the famous and cheeky SBTB blog for romance enthusiasts. If you're into the romance genre, this is where you want to be. If you're not, avoid at all costs to preserve your sanity. Ha ha. We're just kidding. There are some good things happening in the genre. Stay Golden, Horny Girl!
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The Paris Review - A Literary Wonderland
From one of the most classic literary journals of all time, famous for its author interviews (among other things), comes the PR feed. Grab your coffee and conjure your most literary mindset cause you're going to need it. Academics and shut-ins will wet their pants over this. Ya gotta love it!
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Stephen King's War on Plot
An Algonkian Success Story
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Activity Stream
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Podcast 453, Your Transcript is Ready
http://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/WP/wp-content/themes/smartbitches/images/podcast/header_05c.jpg The transcript for Podcast 453. Uzma Jalaluddin and Hana Khan Carries On – with Bonus COVID Vaccine Info with Dr. Jen Gunter has been posted! This podcast transcript was handcrafted with meticulous skill by Garlic Knitter. Many thanks. ❤ Click here to subscribe to The Podcast → View the full article -
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Historical Mysteries, Scotland, & More
Silent in the Grave RECOMMENDED: Silent in the Grave by Deanna Raybourn is $1.99! This book and series has been mentioned quite a bit on the site. Elyse recommended it if you like historical mysteries. Reader StacieH4 mentioned it for those who prefer their romance light on sex, and Reader Tina Chaney said on a podcast that the book has one of her favorite opening lines. Have you read it? “Let the wicked be ashamed, and let them be silent in the grave.” These ominous words, slashed from t -
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An Elderly Lady Must Not Be Crossed
Maud let out a loud sigh of relief as she sank into her comfortable seat on the plane. She surprised herself, because she rarely showed her feelings. She stole a glance at the passenger next to her, a young man in a suit who was busy trying to stuff his elegant black carry-on into the overhead bin. Despite his best efforts, he couldn’t manage to close the door. Good. He probably hadn’t heard her little burst of emotion, which had come straight from the heart. The last few months had been extremely taxing, but now she felt as if the worst was over. At long last she could relax and look forward -
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Young Adult Science Fiction - Laura Neibaur - BLOOD OF THE BELLFLOWER SERIES - BOOK 1: THE SIFTING
Thank you Jinju! I'm wondering if my first chapter is a little boring? Or at least the first scenes? CHAPTER 1 THE KADAI It was just days into harvest and Hild's neck and cheeks were already stained pink from the sun. He swung the leather satchel of plums over his shoulder and glanced up at the heavy branches above-head. Blue and purple clusters of dark fruits were wreathed in curling, green leaves. Orange rays peaked through thinning mid-morning clouds that swept across thriving green orchards and hayfields, beneath a boundless blue sky. The sight saddened H -
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Cooking with Herman Melville
Please join Valerie Stivers and Hank Zona for a virtual, Melville-themed wine tasting on Friday, May 7, at 6 P.M. on The Paris Review’s Instagram account. For more details, visit our events page, or scroll down to the bottom of the article. Photo: Erica MacLean. Whenever I would tell someone I was cooking from Herman Melville’s Moby-Dick for my next column, they would gleefully shriek, “Whale steaks!” And I would dither a bit and explain that no, those are illegal in America, and that I was instead planning to make two forms of chowder, clam and cod, that weren’t going to be very different f -
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ROBOT ARTISTS & BLACK SWANS: THE ITALIAN FANTASCIENZA STORIES by Bruce Sterling (BOOK REVIEW)
“Ideas changed the world. Thoughts changed the world – and thoughts could be written down. I had forgotten that writing could have such urgency, that writing could matter to history, that literature might have consequence. Strangely, tragically, I’d forgotten that such things were even possible.” “Turin, the Esoteric City, was saturated with magic both black and white. Every brick and baroque cornice in the city was shot through with the supernatural.” Bruce Sterling’s new short story collection Robot Artists & Black Swans (2021), collects stories written as by Bruno Argento, Bruce Sterl -
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Suiting Up for Serialization
Is It Just a ‘Token’ Effort? So there we were on Wednesday this week, duly reporting on the dash to digital by the spring/summer international book trade shows. (London Book Fair, Bologna Children’s Book Fair, the US Book Show, and more, all must again be digitally mounted again this year as coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic conditions remain unpredictable in early summer.) And then something else happened: Amazon announced the creation and activation of Kindle Vella, a platform for serialized writing. The significance of this played out in two perfectly positioned messages to the news media. ( -
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Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Sign of the Four and Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray Were Commissioned at the Same Dinner Party
On August 30th, 1889, Arthur Conan Doyle attended a dinner at the Langham Hotel in London with J. M. Stoddart, the publishing agent for a Philadelphia-based magazine called Lippincott’s Monthly Magazine. Stoddart had arrived in London hoping to commission brand-new works of fiction that might appeal to their American readers. Conan Doyle, who was a doctor and merely thirty, was also already well-known as a writer. He had published several novels: The Mystery of Cloomber in 1888, and the historical adventure novel Micah Clarke earlier, in 1889. And of course, in 1887, he had published his inaug -
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On Cowardice and Crime Fiction
There is a brutal rape in my forthcoming novel. The scene plays out twice. Once from the perspective of the character who is experiencing it. And once from the point of view of the character who witnesses the brutality… and does not intervene. Horrifying. And intentionally so. But the reasons for this character’s decision are sound ones, a split second response in a world that’s gone mad. Regardless, the decision haunts her and leads to a cascade of choices that lead both characters astray. In the early stages of development of the story, I noticed a particular strain of criticism of that p -
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On the complex genealogy of “Gay Panic,” and how it is Intercepted by the 2001 thriller The Deep End
Virginia recently passed a bill that bans the use of gay and trans “panic” defenses in criminal proceedings. The panic defense argues that violence is justifiable when the victim is perceived to be gay or trans. The most egregious version of this defense happens in cases where defendants will claim that a sexual advance from the victim triggered an uncontrollable, violent response in the defendant. In cases such as these, defendants are not making a claim about their own gender or sexual identity. The assumption rests solely on the idea that minorities are the cause of their own victimization. -
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Confessions of a Librarian and Historical Mystery Novelist
I’ve got a secret, one I’ve never been willing to reveal in my twenty plus years as a librarian. I hate to burst the readers’ collective bubble, but here is the plain unvarnished truth, and you can trust a librarian to give you the correct answer, even if it’s painful. Here it is. Librarians are not allowed to read in the library. I’ve never pulled a book off a shelf and curled up in a chair even if there is a blizzard outside and no chance of a customer snowmobiling up to the front door. Sure, I can dip into a book to answer a customer’s question, but otherwise, no reading. It would be consid -
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April’s Best Nonfiction Crime Books
CrimeReads editors select the month’s best new nonfiction crime books. * The Twelve Lives of Alfred Hitchcock: An Anatomy of the Master of Suspense By Edward White (W.W. Norton & Co.) White’s study of Hitchcock is an endlessly engaging and insightful read, breaking down the Master of Suspense’s life into twelve aspects, each illuminated with clever analysis of the director’s work. From Hitchcock “the dandy” to Hitchcock “the voyeur” and Hitchcock “the man of God,” White offers up incisive commentary on the multitudes contained within the man’s larger-than-life persona, and the live -
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Netflix Rec: Thunder Force
http://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/WP/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/poster-203x300.jpeg It is deeply rare that all four of the humans who reside in my home enjoy the same piece of entertainment. I think the last time this happened, we were watching Good Omens. Thunder Force is nothing like Good Omens except that all four of us had a terrific time watching it, and I was as immensely pleased with myself for selecting it for our Friday night pizza and a movie. It is ideal “watch over dinner” television. Thunder Force occupies the quadrant territory of media that is not objectively brilliant or per -
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Friday Speak Out!: From Pantser to Planner
by Stephanie Dethlefs I love lists. I love maps. I love schedules, routines, and plans. I’m spontaneity-challenged. I want to know what’s coming, always. I know these things about myself (and, perhaps more importantly, my husband knows them about me.) I’ve always leaned into this characteristic in all areas...except writing. I hated prewriting activities when I was in school. I just wanted my stories to emerge from the pencil like water from a faucet. I would avoid writing outlines with a pout and a touch of procrastination. I turned in first drafts and pleaded innocence. In elementary s -
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453. Uzma Jalaluddin and Hana Khan Carries On – with Bonus COVID Vaccine Info with Dr. Jen Gunter
A | BN | K | AB Uzma Jalaluddin joins Amanda and me to talk about Hana Khan Carries On, which caused one of us some Bad Decisions Book Club membership. We discuss the book (no spoilers, don’t worry!) and the fabulous podcasting heroine, Hana, who’s got a You’ve Got Mail kind of relationship with the owner of a rival Halal restaurant. We cover representation, gorgeous cover art, and writing about characters finding and using their voices. It’s so much fun – Uzma is a wonderful guest. But first! We have a special health bulletin of sorts. This week I interviewed Dr. Jen Gunter for her upcoming b -
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Contemporary Romances & Historical Fiction
The Arctic Fury RECOMMENDED: The Arctic Fury by Greer Macallister is $1.99! Carrie gave this historical mystery a B+. It’s also a KDD! I loved this book. It kept me in suspense and when it was over I wanted to read it again. It sent me down many Google rabbit holes, which is my favorite kind of book. I recommend this for people who aren’t averse to ambiguity, who like stories of adventure and exploration as well as intersectional examinations of women’s lives, and to people who like mystery/thrillers. -
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Midnight Sun: A Reminder of Why Twilight Was Successful
Yes, I admit, I caved to the hype and read (or rather listened to) Midnight Sun, the latest installment of the guilty-pleasure franchise that is Twilight. I'll also admit that I was one of the millions of teenage girls who read the original quadrilogy under the table during math class, breathlessly wondering whether Bella would end up with Edward or Jacob (the vampire and werewolf, respectively, for those who didn't partake in this pop culture juggernaut). At the time I was young, lonely, and as ill-fitting in teenage society as any bookworm. So who can blame me for using this vanilla-bland ch -
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Interview with Tim Powers (FORCED PERSPECTIVES)
Photo: Matt Gush Tim Powers is a unique voice in Fantasy. He specialises in rigorously researched secret histories, in which gaps in the historical record are explained by the fantastical or the supernatural. But this description hardly does justice to his incredible novels, which are among the most inventive and joyous I have ever read. His Philip K. Dick Award winning novel The Anubis Gates (1983) is a delirious time travel tale involving body-hopping werewolves and Egyptian mythology. The Drawing Of The Dark (1979) imagines the Siege of Vienna as a magical battleground involving the reinca -
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FALLIBLE JUSTICE by Laura Laakso (BOOK REVIEW)
Fallible Justice is, at its core, a detective novel. Yannia Wilde is a PI who must prove a man’s innocence before he is sentenced to death for a high-profile murder. But Yannia’s London is one where magical beings co-exist with humans, and justice is meted out by the all-knowing, infallible beings called Heralds. They’re never wrong. So how can they be wrong in this case? I loved Yannia. She’s a smart woman who is struggling to come to terms with her past, and she seems utterly realistic in her thoughts and feelings. She was raised in a commune of Wild Folk, which was idyllic in some ways but -
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Flog a Pro: Would You Pay to Turn the First Page of this Bestseller?
Trained by reading hundreds of submissions, editors and agents often make their read/not-read decision on the first page. In a customarily formatted book manuscript with chapters starting about 1/3 of the way down the page (double-spaced, 1-inch margins, 12-point type), there are 16 or 17 lines on the first page. Here’s the question: Would you pay good money to read the rest of the chapter? With 50 chapters in a book that costs $15, each chapter would be “worth” 30 cents. So, before you read the excerpt, take 30 cents from your pocket or purse. When you’re done, decide what to do with those
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